Barriers to Communication and Information Exchange in Patient Transfer and Its Consequences

Faramarz Pourasghar,Ahad Banagozar Mohammadi,Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi,Nesa Kavakebi

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v8n12p178

Faramarz Pourasghar, Ahad Banagozar Mohammadi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v8n12p178

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Abstract

BACKGROUND &amp; OBJECTIVES: The patient transfer is multidisciplinary process and communication and information exchange are crucial for its successful accomplishment. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers that negatively influence communication and information exchange during the patient transfer between hospitals and the Center for Treatment Guidance and Information (CTGI) and to describe their consequences.METHODS: A qualitative study based on Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Three FGDs were carried out with 5 experts with years of experience working in the CTGI and 25 interviews with individuals involved in patient transfer process. Data were analyzed using content analysis method.FINDINGS: Three major themes including poor communication and information exchange at the CTGI, referring hospital, and receiving hospital were identified. The most important sub-themes at the level of CTGI were: the unavailability of accurate patient medical history and lack of confidence and different working process for patient admission in hospitals. At the level of referring hospital they were incomplete medical history, medical documents, vague patient transfer indications and lack of effective communication. At the level of receiving hospital they were lack of providing feedback, lack of mutual communication and incorrect report of available beds. Also four major consequences of poor communication and information exchange were identified which are managerial, clinical, economic and social consequences.CONCLUSIONS: To overcome the barriers, there is a need for proper monitoring by accountable organizations, reviewing the protocols for patient transfer, an increase in inter-sector collaboration and improvement in communications infrastructure and collection of data.

Highlights

Transferring patients to continue treatment as well as facility distribution in specialty and subspecialty centers and facilitating the access to specialized services is inevitable (Coleman, 2003; Kripalani et al, 2007)
Three Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were carried out with 5 experts with years of experience working in the Center for Treatment Guidance and Information (CTGI) and 25 interviews with individuals involved in patient transfer process
To overcome the barriers, there is a need for proper monitoring by accountable organizations, reviewing the protocols for patient transfer, an increase in inter-sector collaboration and improvement in communications infrastructure and collection of data

Summary

Introduction

Transferring patients to continue treatment as well as facility distribution in specialty and subspecialty centers and facilitating the access to specialized services is inevitable (Coleman, 2003; Kripalani et al, 2007). Transferring patients is one of the most complex tasks due to the special condition of the patient, time constraints (urgency), a plurality of people involved in the transfer process in referring and receiving hospitals as well as the amount of logistics requirements (Haggstrom, Asplund, & Kristiansen, 2009). To carry out these complex tasks, the minimum requirements and standards are required. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers that negatively influence communication and information exchange during the patient transfer between hospitals and the Center for Treatment Guidance and Information (CTGI) and to describe their consequences

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